The consumer marketplace and their brand owners continue to be engage with the increased threat of not only product theft, but diversion and counterfeiting. Market estimates for these corrupt transactions range from handbags to alcohol

and place costs worldwide of a staggering 5-7% of world trade. As supply and distribution channels continue to become more complex, brands become more endangered for counterfeiting. Lepton-id recognizes the marketplace needs to authentic and prove products have been manufactured and placed into a legitimate supply chain. The watch word is "secure the supply chain and enhance consumer safety".

Lepton-id continues to provide brand owners and consumers easy to use and stealth authentication solutions within the security industry. In addition to utilizing proprietary taggants and taggant detectors, Lepton-id provides fully integrated solutions that enable brand owners to manufacture and guarantee product legitimacy. Lepton-id's differentiator is an end to end approach designed to thwart fake and hazardous products and provide validation via field verification and even using cloud based services.

This anti-counterfeit and anti-diversion technology has several levels of security which could include Holograms with integrated taggant to hidden barcodes which can be machine readable with the Lepton-id detectors.

Our goal is to protect distribution and supply chains, and even defend sales revenue and universally protect consumers from harm

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The Lepton-id technology and product approach includes the potential for a multi-layered approach, incorporating both physical product and packaging authentication.

The amount of fake products entering markets worldwide is staggering. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), counterfeit consumer products may cost the global economy up to $250 Billion/yr. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/03/29/24-7-wall-st-counterfeited-products/7023233. Consumer products such as Wallets/Handbags, Watches/Jewelry and consumer electronic parts lead the list of most confiscated by USA Customers and Border Patrol.

Lepton-id has an extremely flexible body of products and what makes us unique is our potential to deliver product and packaging authentication. Our technologies are designed to press counterfeiters to move away from our protected brands as we make them virtually impossible to counterfeit. Brand owners have less risk and significantly increased ROI.

Lepton-id Brand ProtectionWhy it Should be Product and Packaging

Lepton-id targets the Consumer protection industry by authenticating both products and the corresponding packaging. The "Multi-Layered Approach" we referenced includes product and packaging of those products being protected. The solution design is targeted to ensure both the physical product is authentic, but is also being supplied via the intended part of the supply chain

We continue to offer our customers a wide range of in-product identifiers added with trace levels to simply guarantee authentication. Our custom hardware and software techniques can use these product "markers" to detect counterfeiting, modification or even dilution.

Lepton-id has a wide variety of technologies for the identification and authentication of packaging materials, tamper-evident seals, labels, caps, cartons adhesives and tapes. By combining all these packaging technologies (e.g. forensic, covert, overt) we strive to assist those purchasing the products to authenticate those products either at the point of purchase or the supply chain.

Consumer Products Expertise

Lepton-id has experience in the retail marketplace. As a wholly owned subsidiary of ZBA, Inc., we have been engaged with the retail marketplace for over 20 years. We understand consumer products and their supply chains. Simple commodity products like cosmetics, deodorant, shampoo to higher end products like hand bags to sporting goods require technology solutions for protection. Lepton-id is the technology of choice.

Lepton-id, as mentioned previously can address a multi-layered approach that addresses protection features in the physical products and packaging. Our goal is to help consumers and brand owners to authenticate the pedigree of the product. The solution design MUST be end to end, from manufacturing to the end user. We include patented proprietary detectors that are designed to identify the counterfeit goods. Clearly, our solution goals are targeted at discouraging counterfeiters to affect our products and reducing their opportunity to create counterfeit goods.

Case Study – Brand ProtectionThe Problem

A major manufacturer of print toner cartridges recognized reduced shipments from one of their major manufacturing plants. They were concerned that one of the causes might be corruption and use of fake goods into their distribution channel. Subsequently, they saw a reduction of sales of the legitimate goods manufactured in their factory.

The Recommendation (Solution)

The use of taggants for both the toner cartridge and the cartridge packaging was implemented at the production location WITH very specific secure application conditions. At final inspection of the toner cartridge the plastic was tested with the Lepton-id detector which was specifically "tuned" for the implemented taggant properties. The use of 2D barcodes on the cartridge first level packaging was read by standard industry imagers which tracked the legitimate product through the distribution chain. The same taggant was embedded in the 2D label ink and would allow for the identification of illegal (fake) products. Inspectors and customers within the supply chain could now audit both cartridge product and labeling to ensure both included the security taggant.

The Result

The factory volume output increased back to forecasted levels as non conforming (fake) product was easily pulled from the supply chain. The first year production increase was greater than $5 million with that number doubling in subsequent years. The total product/solution development and implementation was under $300,000. so the ROI is clear.